Worcester airport lands screen role

WORCESTER — Worcester Regional Airport was bustling Monday, although JetBlue's first scheduled flight to Florida is not set to take off until next month.

HBO and Playtone began filming "Olive Kitteridge" in Massachusetts and is doing most of the filming on the North Shore this fall, but the Hollywood film crews and actors swung by Worcester to film an airport scene on the upper level of the airport terminal with star Frances McDormand.

"Frances McDormand plays kind of a self-righteous character," said professional actor William A. Kennedy of Quincy. Mr. Kennedy played a Boston police desk sergeant in this summer's "Heat" with Sandra Bullock and a disgruntled friend of Larry David's character in "Clear History," he said after the filming wrapped up in Worcester.

"Clear History," filmed on the North Shore last year, starred Jon Hamm, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes. Mr. Kennedy's role in "Olive Kitteridge" is a New York state trooper. He said Ms. McDormand's character initially refuses to take off her shoes at the security checkpoint, but eventually acquiesces.

Mr. Kennedy said he lived in Los Angeles for a long time and moved back to Massachusetts to care for his mother. He has since landed several roles that have been filmed in the state. He played a congressman in "American Hustle," another Hollywood production filmed in Worcester, last spring. Movie stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner filmed in several locations in the city for that movie, due out in December. Mr. Kennedy said he has a scene with Mr. Renner.

"I was in LA a lot of years," Mr. Kennedy said. "It's kind of ironic how things work out."

"Olive Kitteridge," a four-part drama, stars Ms. McDormand in the title role and Richard Jenkins as Olive's husband, Henry Kitteridge. The production is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Strout, with a screenplay written by Jane Anderson.

"Olive Kitteridge tells the alternately poignantly sweet, acerbically funny, and devastatingly tragic story of a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy, told through the lens of Olive, whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and a staunch moral center," according to a news release from the Massachusetts Film Office.

Tom Hanks is one of the executive producers of "Olive Kitteridge."

In addition to Ms. McDormand and about 25 professional actors, there were 250 extras and crew in the airport for the filming Monday.

Richard McMullin of Rutland was among them. He said he saw an ad seeking extras on Craigslist. He has acted in stage productions before, but Monday was his first experience as a film extra, he said.

"There's a lot of sitting around," Mr. McMullin said. He sat in a waiting area on the first level after filming during the morning, and munched on a bag of chips until the production crew released him for the day. He arrived at 6:45 a.m.. "This is not exactly an Academy Award nomination," he said.

Another first-time film extra, Gwen Davis of Worcester, also patiently waited to see around noon if she would be needed for any more filming Monday.

"It was awesome," Ms. Davis said. "It was so much fun just to be a part of it."

Ms. Davis, wearing a big hat, sunglasses and a purple jacket, had her husband's suitcase in tow. Most of the extras brought suitcases from home. Ms. Davis said she was directed to be conversing with a friend in the scene at security. "It was fascinating; I would like to do this again."

She said she especially enjoyed watching and learning from the professional actors.

"I called my boss; I called my husband," Ms. Davis said, as well as other family and friends. "I probably won't be seen, but it was fun to be connected to this."

Other activity Monday at Worcester Regional Airport included construction crews working on improvements to sidewalks and other outdoor areas, preparations for the imminent arrival of JetBlue and even some aviation.

Dave Murphy's small plane left from his private runway at his home in Amsterdam, N.Y., and flew into Worcester Regional Airport with his wife, and one other person. The trio toured the David Clark Co. factory in Worcester.

"That was really impressive," Mr. Murphy said.

After their morning tour, they went back through the main terminal and said they wondered what all the activity was at the airport.

The filming at Worcester Regional Airport wrapped up shortly after noon, and actors boarded buses.